Deniska's Stories

Viktor Yuzefoich Dragunsky 1913-1972 - a Soviet writer whose books have become classics of children's literature, are constantly reissued, filmed, and translated into many languages of the world. Viktor Dragunsky dreamed of performing on stage since childhood. In 1931, the... future writer saw an announcement for the recruitment of students for a literary-theatrical workshop. He passed the selection - and in the evenings, after work, he began to attend classes and write stories. After listening to them, the head of the workshop advised him to give up this activity: 'You will definitely become an artist, but not a writer!' Dragunsky indeed became an artist: he worked in the Transport Theater and then moved to the Satire Theater. When the Great Patriotic War began, he did not go to the front due to health reasons and served in the militia. He was awarded the medal For the Defense of Moscow. After the war, Viktor was invited to work at the Film Actor Theater. In 1958, Dragunsky left the theater: he decided to seriously engage in literary activity. It was then that the first stories from the famous cycle Deniska's Stories were written. The prototype of Deniska Korablyov was the writer's son, and the character of Misha Slonov was drawn from Misha Slonim, with whom Denis Dragunsky was friends. The stories about the restless, curious, and resourceful Deniska and his friends immediately appealed to both children and adults. The heroes of Deniska's stories - ordinary Moscow preschoolers and primary school students - go to the cinema and amusement parks, play in the yard, help each other in lessons, fantasize, and mischieve. Good humor, charming and lively characters, recognizable situations will surely delight young readers, while allowing adults to return to their childhood when the world was full of mysteries, surprises, and hopes that inevitably came true. In total, Viktor Dragunsky wrote about 70 stories about Deniska, and this collection includes 22 of them. All texts are presented without abbreviations.